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There was fair reason to be excited for "Manhunt". It was John Woo's return to the modern crime action film, his signature style, after more than a decade away from it. On top of that, it was his first film of this style made in Asia since 1992's "Hard Boiled," in many ways the apex of his powers. However, while "Manhunt" checks a lot of boxes on what one would want from a classic John Woo shoot 'em up; a story of a cop and criminal and their relationship with one another, slow motion gunfights, doves, et cetera, in can't help but feel like its only artificially copying the key tropes of Woo's classic films without having the soul embodying it that made his other films action classics.

While no one goes into a Woo film expecting a smart, nuanced story, it is fair to expect that its stupidity is at least kept in check. In his best films, "The Killer," "A Better Tomorrow," and, "Hard Boiled," he briefly indulges in moments of excess and melodrama that are reined in by well written characters and stories that deal with universal themes, such as the conflict between faith and the needs of reality, or the issues with loving one's family in spite of their sometimes heinous actions. Then there are Woo films that use melodrama and stupidity to their advantage, such as, "Face/Off," that are aware of their own ridiculousness and ham it up for maximum effect, aware that it is all they are good for. But "Manhunt" occupies an awkward place that fits successfully into neither area. It's a film with no brain on its shoulders that still seems to take itself too seriously. It's a deadly combination that bring down the film more than anything, although there are still some elements of classic Woo that make it in.

One farmhouse gunfight sequence in the middle of the film is as close as anything Woo has done since "Hard Boiled" to capturing his classic style, with expertly choreographed fighting, excellent use of editing and slow-motion, and inventive use of the space and setting briefly create a classic John Woo bullet-ballet of yore. However, the rest of the action in the film doesn't hold up quite as well. The film's opening scene sets expectations high with its slick, tight camera movement, but unfortunately the rest of the film is plagued with overly tight, shaky camera work that makes the action hard to appreciate. It's a shame, since it was Woo's slick, clean quality to his action that always made him stand above other directors making similar work.

The film also isn't helped by Woo's apparent sudden obsession with digital filmmaking technology. There is nary a shot nor cut in the film that isn't altered by some effect, whether simple cuts are created into crossfades for seemingly no reason, shots are sped up and slowed down at random, creating a jagged, jittery mess, and different coloured filters and visual distortions warping our perception. It appears as if Woo went through every single setting in After Effects just to try everything out, and it is almost never necessary for telling the story efficiently, and often works against it. The story itself is a predictable conspiracy thriller about a pharmaceutical corporation using its products for brainwashing purposes crossed with a classic mistaken identity thriller, but the film's constant need to cut away to other scenes and flashbacks and awkwardly transition in and out of scenes with no sense of pacing or rhythm means that the plot becomes overly complicated when it really never needs to be.

Hanyu Zhang and Stephy Qi both hold their own with fairly naturalistic performances that compliment the more gritty aspects of the story, but Masaharu Fukuyama plays Detective Yamura like a cartoon character, leading for an awkward tension between the scenes he shares with Zhang where their styles never quite match up. It doesn't help either that the film floats between being spoken in Cantonese, Japanese, and English, with none of the actors seeming to have a firm grasp of all of them, leading to some poorly fitting and unconvincing ADR all throughout the film that looks like a bad Kung-Fu dub, except they are being dubbed with the same language they are speaking.

All in all, "Manhunt" really just highlights the sad reality that maybe John Woo doesn't have that special ability that he used to have that made his classic films the classics they are. My only hope is from this experience he can realize that and start focusing on trying to make something new and challenging him that will better suit where he is at now in his career instead of trying and failing to recapture his glory days.

Molly McGlynn's "Mary Goes Round" does many things well, but perhaps it's most endearing and defining quality is the brilliantly unique and original yet completely honest tone that it contains.

It can already be summed up simply with the most basic bio of it's protagonist Mary: an addictions counsellor who is herself an alcoholic. It's a concept that has an inherent sadness and brutal honesty to it, yet it contains a funny irony to it that is inescapable. Where other films try and fail to balance drama and comedy well without one undermining the other, "Mary Goes Round" never shows any sign but simply keeping its story and characters as real and honest as possible.

Aya Cash perfectly captures Mary's spunky energy, using awkward and often unintentional humour to alleviate the uncomfortable situations within the film in a way that seems so effortless and natural that you would never believe the film was scripted. One could easily see Cash having a huge future as a comedienne if she wasn't also so damn good at the dramatic scenes as well.

The rest of the cast effortlessly carries the story along as well, never playing the serious moments as melodrama and always keeping them grounded within reality that is still tragic while never feeling too dramatic to be believable.

Cinematographer Nick Haight also deserves a lot of credit for fearlessly keeping us trapped in uncomfortable situations, holding on tight close-ups of the characters in situations they most want to escape from; Mary being asked to admit to her own addiction problems, her estranged father Walt, played with gentle grace by John Ralston, having a heated argument with Mary on his deathbed in what could potentially be their last conversation, or Mary and her half-sister Robyn, played by the young but skilled beyond her years Sarah Waisglass, bonding for the first time over tales of their own dysfunctional behaviour and personal issues. By keeping us trapped looking deep into each character's face, the film is able to force us to confront the dysfunction in their lives in a way that is both uncomfortable yet incredibly cathartic and moving when we feel the same release as the characters do as they learn to overcome them and see that life moves on.

With "Mary Goes Round," McGlynn has made a film that allows us to empathize deeply with its characters even though we may not have similar stories ourselves by allowing the emotional core of everything shine through so strongly that we can all connect it to our own lives. It's a rare achievement, but one that McGlynn and her cast and crew handle with such grace, beauty, and fun, that it's hard not to love going 'round with Mary.

When I actually sit down and think about it, there aren't many good movies about your average, every day police officer. There are a couple notable television series', like "Hill Street Blues" and the now dated but oddly fascinating reality series "Cops", but on film, these guys don't get a lot of luck. I guess everyone would rather see movies about undercover officers or detectives. Well for anyone like me who's been waiting for it, here it is. End Of Watch, an excellent take on the genre. It may not be perfect, but it's unique and shows the day to day life more effectively than most if any cop movies I've seen, and as such I think it will one day be essential viewing for fans of the genre.

In the film we meet Brian Taylor, an ex-marine working as a police officer while he works his way through law school. He also just so happens to be taking a class in filmmaking and is filming his experiences to make a documentary for said class, and this is where we get much of our view into the film from. Featured frequently in the film is his partner Mike, often called Z. After stumbling upon a drug-lord at a routine traffic stop, they quickly fall into trouble with the cartel and have to fight their way through it while still trying to figure out where it's all coming from.

The great thing about this mockumentary/found footage style isn't so much the way it's able to present the action of being a cop realistically (which it does but so do normally shot movies), but it better gives us an understanding of what happens inbetween the action. Being a fly on the wall in the various dull, inappropriate, and often times hilarious conversations the two have when patrolling brings the film a much needed dose of comic relief, but the kind that never feels forced. It's all set up naturally. This really gives a chance for stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena to shine as well as they fit so naturally into these characters, often sounding unscripted whether or not they are. They play them as regular guys instead of complex characters which may make them a little less compelling, but all the more fun to watch.

The film also mixes in a variety of other video sources from the dashboard cams of the police cruisers to security cameras. This really benefits the style as a whole. 99% of the time, using the self-shot, found footage for an entire film can come off as gimmicky and unnecessary, but by using a variety of sources the director is able to keep the realistic tone consistent while downplaying the gimmick idea and instead choosing to use Brian's self shot footage and monologues to the camera only when they prove most effective to the story.

Along the way the film is also interspersed with subplots of Brian meeting his new girl Janet, played by Anna Kendrick who makes a memorable impression despite her little screen time, as well as Z and his wife having a baby. While I find it hard to really complain about Anna Kendrick (she's just so damn cute! And she looked stunning on stage introducing the film), these subplots, while important for character development, are thrown in a little too randomly throughout and mess with the overall flow of the film. It's not a huge complaint as I've seen it done worse in other movies, but it could've been solved with some tighter editing. But who knows, this was the premiere I saw, studios still often tweak movies before wide-release.

Fortunately for writer/director David Ayer, this is really the only complaint I have about the film. The entire movie is fairly well written. I did find the dialogue of a lot of the street thugs to be cliché and racially stereotypical, but the things Brian and Z say are priceless throughout and help you deal with a lot of the more serious scenes, and there are quite a few of them. For as entertaining and light-hearted as it is at times, End Of Watch has many dark, brutally violent, and emotionally impacting scenes that are not for the feint of heart. They do ultimately seem necessary though as the film needs action to keep it going, and to create the realistic document of day to day police life it's trying to create, which does get pretty brutal sometimes despite the mostly mundane times in between. The important thing though is that the film is able to balance all of these moments so well.

David Ayer has dedicated what seems to be his whole career to police movies. Most are mediocre to bad (Street Kings), some are genre classics (Training Day), but I think End Of Watch is by far his finest. It easily has the most likable characters, and as such the most emotional involvement for the audience, which thus creates the most tension in the high risk, action scenes. It has the most believable story of any of his movies, or most cop movies for that matter, and lastly it just told in an interesting way. Neither the cop story, found footage action or fly on the wall comedy genres are anything new, but End of Watch takes old ideas and fits them together to make something interesting.

In conclusion, it's tough to go wrong with End Of Watch if you're a fan of the genre. Even if you're not particularly fond of cop movies, I'd still recommend it. It's a highly entertaining, tension filled ride of a movie. It may not be as deep as some other movies coming out now, but it really brings you into another world well. It's well written, well directed, well acted, and was well enjoyed by the whole crowd. Check it out.